In April, the town solicited applications from businesses proposing to install traditional site improvements or capital investment opportunities that could bring new jobs to Silverthorne. Silverthorne Town Council delegated the application review and recommendation process to the Economic Development Advisory Committee.

Ken Gansmann, who owns The Mint with partner Tom Ricci was one of the grant recipients. He and Ricci plan to use their funds to replace the old signage at the restaurant, which has been there for more than 20 years.

The new sign will be oval in shape, Gansmann said, with “The Historic Mint” lettering in the center and longhorns at the bottom. The sign, which is being designed and constructed locally, features four colors, making it more attractive than the restaurants current lettering.

“I feel real good, and in fact, I’ve been instrumental behind the scenes in having a downtown Silverthorne some day,” Gansmann said. “We’re the only ones in Summit County that doesn’t have a downtown to be proud of and we’re working on that, but you have to take baby steps to get there.”

Introduced in March 2012, the Business Improvement Grant Program is a two-track program offering grants through a competitive application review process. Now in its second year the Town of Silverthorne has issued 13 grants to local businesses.

“I think we have another great set of projects that have been selected this year,” said Town of Silverthorne Mayor Dave Koop in a news release. “When these projects are completed, that will bring us to thirteen grant projects accomplished in a little over twelve months, and that’s great progress in a short period of time.

“The Town of Gypsum recently introduced a program modeled after ours, so I’m proud that we’ve created something that can translate to success for other communities as well.”